Chapter 10- Meridian in Salem

Selena was not handling her daughter walking out on her well. She had hoped that Luna would soon change her mind and return home with a change of heart. As time passed, it was evident that she more than likely would not be seeing Luna very soon at all. The other fairies were taking notice of her unsettled mood, and this was not something common for them to see in their queen.

Selena had a handful of interesting cousins - the elemental fairies and one powerful fairy named Karma. The fairy nymphs were the ones who were giving Chance a hard time when the guides initially approached Selena for help with Caius. Most times they kept to themselves only coming out to play with their own kind or any other being that their charms had an effect on.

“Selena, we have watched this situation growing with despair. What can we do?” Siren asked.

Selena gave a sly smile as she looked at the red-headed fairy. “I know exactly what you all can do.” Selena laughed. Orion knew what was in her mind as he watched the exchange but felt the need to speak up.

“Selena, you know what you need to do in order to make it right with Luna. She is in love with Relic, and she feels by you forcing him to be with her that she has lost any real chance with him long-term. You know he will not stay with her like this. He is a loner anyway,” Orion said to the upset fairy. “You have to keep your word to the guides. They put themselves in so much danger to gain your support, and in the end, you betrayed them. Getting their trust now will be difficult, but I believe if you do this, Luna will come around again.” Orion’s words stopped the Fairy Queen in her tracks.

After a long pause, Selena broke her silence. “Orion, Etheria is a mess and has been since Warrick took over, and I know that there is more to Warrick than meets the eye. Meridian would have been powerful, but she never got the chance to realize it.” Selena stared at her fairy book as she thought of Meridian and what she went through for Kieren… her kind. “We must go to Salem and find them. If Meridian is truly the chosen one, this may change everything about Etheria.”

Back on Earth, Relic watched Meridian sleep through the night, and Luna watched Relic as she pondered what was to become of their relationship. “I am going back to Etheria. I need to find Chance and see if there is anything going on that could be useful to us in saving her.” Relic nodded toward Meridian as he spoke to Luna. “Are you coming with me?” Relic ironically asked.

“You want me to go back with you? Why now?” Luna inquired.

“I know that you are better than your mother, and I am sorry for the judgement. This all has been an adjustment for me...our nuptials, and I know that it has been hard on you to watch all of this where I am concerned. Let’s just get through this, all of us together on the same team. Deal?” Relic smiled.

The sun was rising in the quaint town of Salem, and it was the day before Halloween. Pramlee and Slaten never left Meridian’s side, and Talon had disappeared, nowhere to be found.

Meridian and Tallulah woke late next morning. Tallulah had been up a while sitting in the room watching Meridian sleep. She stirred her black coffee with her spoon with one hand, and she had her face resting on her free hand as she stared in a mixture of disgust and concern for Meridian.

Meridian began to wake, and she scooted to the end of the bed looking down at her toes and chipped blue nail polish. She put her hands over her makeup-smeared face and groaned. “I have the worst headache!” Meridian fell back, laying on the bed and staring at the ceiling.

“Really! A headache!” Tallulah marched over to the bed and began shouting at Meridian. “What in the hell was all that about last night? What have I told you? You should have seen yourself! Underwear down to your knees, and so drunk you could barely stand. I am willing to bet you have no recollection of what happened do you?” Tallulah stood over Meridian with her arms crossed and her nostrils large enough to drive quarters through.

“Why are you yelling at me? I like John; I like a lot of guys. What is it to you?” Meridian got off the bed, stomped off to the bathroom, and sat on the toilet with the door wide open.

Tallulah followed and stood in the doorway as Meridian used the restroom, paying no mind to Meridian rolling her eyes at her. “I am yelling at you because I have told you the dangers of acting in the manner that you do! I have tried hard to be patient with you and explain things, but I can’t take this anymore! Several nights a week, you disappear with a new guy! One of these days you are going to run into a man who will hurt you!” Tallulah turned away and was frantically packing up things they would need to shop that day. She took a deep breath and sighed as she tried to collect herself. Meridian had come out of the bathroom and sat back down on the bed looking squeamish. “Meridian, I know this is all new for you, in so many ways you are still a child. When I look at you I see a grown woman, but I cannot allow you to stay with me, and me try to help you, if you are going to continue to act in this way. I am not a prude by any means. However, I want you to be more careful. No running off with anymore strange men. Do you understand?” Tallulah was not taking no for an answer.

Meridian did not say anything. She looked down at her lap with a stoop and nodded her head in agreement. The pair dressed and headed out for the day to hit some of Salem’s shops. Tallulah always made sure she had a shopping spree for Wiccan and Witch items when she visited the town.

The women found a café serving late breakfast. Meridian sat quietly waiting for Tallulah to speak again. Meridian had been too upset and afraid to say anything earlier. After the waiter came and took their orders, Tallulah looked at Meridian’s lost puppy dog eyes and broke her silence.

“Meridian, look you are your own person, and I am not your mother. You are free to do as you wish. I told you when I found you that I wanted to help you, and that is part of the reason I brought you here. I know you have been through a great deal, and I do not want to put more on you by telling you what to do. I just need you to slow down. My friends told us that we could come by their place tonight, and I think that they may be able to help you. We need to visit them today; they will be busy the next few days after,” Tallulah finished and continued to look at the menu.

“Busy with what?” Meridian’s curiosity was perking up.

“You will find out soon enough,” Tallulah answered with a hint of pleasure in keeping up the suspense.

Meridian put her menu down. “Tallulah, I am very sorry. There is no excuse, and I know that you have tried to help me. I just feel better when I am with a man - even if I do not know him that well. I don’t always know that it is wrong.” Meridian reached her hand across the table and touched Tallulah’s arm.

Tallulah looked into Meridian’s lost eyes, and she could see that the former spirit guide was in so many ways the child she was acting like. Once again, she found the patience to see through with helping Meridian. “Okay, look for now, let’s drop this and not have a terrible trip. If you meet a guy and know him longer than five minutes maybe I wouldn’t be too upset.” Tallulah winked at Meridian. “But this jezebel behavior has to slow down.” Tallulah let her command be known as she looked at Meridian with her eyes peering over her cup of coffee as she took a long sip of coffee.

Not too far away, Talon stood where John’s body had been picked up and taken by the ambulance. He looked around at the area and wondered if the guides or Luna knew what came of him after he passed on. The ghost at the club had disappeared, and Talon remembered Luna’s words as she described what the ghost was hanging around for. The dark ones had come to take John, and he was thankful that he wasn’t present to witness it for himself. The streets began to fill with all those who had traveled in to celebrate, and the scene was just as it was the year prior - except without Meridian to talk to.

The guides that remained had left Tallulah and Meridian’s side to check out the rest of the town to see how things were going with all the people who had traveled in.

“Pramlee, you sure would fit in here,” Slaten said.

“Of course, I would I fit in anywhere,” Pramlee said as her face lit up. “Have you seen Talon? What happened to Relic and Luna? And where is Kieren?” she asked.

“I have no idea, and who cares about Kieren? He was getting on my nerves, and he really needs a distraction of his own,” Slaten said.

Meridian and Tallulah finished up shopping for the day, so the pair jumped in the car and made their way over to Tallulah’s friend’s house that she was set to visit. As they drove across town, the scenery started to look more familiar to Meridian, and to the guides and Talon who were in tow. She stared out of her window as they continued to drive to the outskirts of town. They turned down a quiet road and slowed down as the house emerged before them. It was an old house, and as they drew closer, Meridian became overwhelmed as memories flashed through her mind.